


The Two Timed Prank

by mcgoogle_random



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, BAMF Minerva McGonagall, Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Marauders, Prank War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:14:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgoogle_random/pseuds/mcgoogle_random
Summary: There is a reason Minerva loves Halloween.
Kudos: 21





	The Two Timed Prank

Contrary to popular belief, Minerva's favorite holiday has always been Halloween. Not Christmas or Easter (honestly, Easter?), as others often think. She loves everything about it. The decorations, the smell of cider in the air, the excited look on first years faces as they wander into what she likes to call the Halloween Epicentre. The Great Hall is filled with floating candles as always, enchanted pumpkins that startle unsuspecting students (and some teachers), and Hagrid even had the amazing idea to release bats in the hall. Of course for safety reasons, they had to make enchanted ones instead of the live ones but Minerva had an idea for the ones Hagrid managed to wrangle. Poor Sybil hated her after. It quickly became a tradition when Sybil couldn’t figure out the culprit.   
But the thing she loved the most was the crazy costumes some students wore. Many dressed up as the latest creature from muggle films, others as monsters they had only recently learned existed. Minerva really had the time to dress up, leaving it up to Albus to represent the Halloween spirit. One year though, she made an exception and gave four students the biggest fright. 

Despite their obvious disregard for the rules and the constant effort to make her life a living hell, James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin managed to worm their way into her heart. Not that she’d tell them that. Their pranks were targeted for those deserving of them or to brighten up a sad first year. Sometimes they reminded her of her younger self, always getting into mischief. She did it by herself, they had each other.   
In their sixth year Minerva couldn’t help but overhear that the newly dubbed Marauders were planning to dress up as their professors. Normally she would let a rumor like that slide, but it was Halloween, and she wasn’t about to let this wonderful opportunity pass. 

Halloween arrived in its usual fashion. Minerva sat at the head table, watching as the first years looked around in wonderment. She was wearing her usual emerald green robes and pointed hat, talking softly to Poppy as she would do on any normal day. There was a roar of laughter as one of her talking pumpkins caught Filius off guard, making him splash pumpkin juice down his front. She laughed into her hand and smirked when she caught Poppys reprimanding eye. 

“Honestly Minerva, you are as bad as those boys,” Poppy chastised. Minerva shrugged, unbothered by her wifes words. 

“You know I’m much worse,” she replied nonchalantly, biting into her toast. Poppys blush did not go unnoticed. 

It was Sunday, meaning the students and staff had the day off. After breakfast, Minerva went to her office claiming she had some essays to grade. It wasn’t an exact lie, she did have papers to grade as well as a prank to pull off.   
Hidden in the broom closet in the corner of her office was her perfectly planned costume. If her sources were correct (she knew for a fact that Lily Evans would never lie to her), she had an hour to prepare before the quartet made their way towards her office. She pulled on the outfit and undid her usual bun, letting her raven fall down her back. She transfigured a piece of parchment into a mirror and admired her handy work. She smiled to herself and went about clearing up the evidence.

Sure enough, at twelve thirty, there was a knock at the door. Composing herself, she bade them entry. As the door opened she heard young Sirius ask his friends what they thought she would say. She stood up and moved around her desk, watching their smiles fade to looks of utter shock. She wanted to burst out laughing, instead opting to bite her tongue.   
Each of them took turns muttering their shock under their breath. Peter looked ready to bolt, Remus didn’t seem to be surprised which she expected, and James and Sirius looked dumbfounded. As if they never expected their teacher to outsmart them. Minerva had decided to copy Sirius’ style. She bought a band shirt (some group called Queen), and paired it with some black skinny jeans and a leather coat. She added her own flare by adding some ridiculously high black boots that she planned to never wear again. Despite herself she said a cocky “checkmate” to the boys.   
She had to admire their costumes. James and Peter were adorable in their beards, she was certain James’ Dumbledore impression would bring the old man to tears. Remus went full out as Sir Nickolas, painting both his hair and face white. Then there was Sirius. He had somehow managed to find an emerald green robe like hers and even glasses with rectangular frames that she was sure he transfigured himself. His hair was in a tight bun like the one she always wore. She had to hand it to them, they were committed. Slowly, each of them started laughing. First it was Sirius followed by James then Remus and Peter. Minerva shook her head and joined in and soon all of them were laughing enough to hurt their ribs. 

“Gotta hand it to you Minnie,” Sirius said between breaths. She had grown to like the nickname he had given her although she never admitted it out loud. Only Sirius would dare call her something other than Professor. “I really did not see this coming.”

“Well Sirius,” she started breathlessly. She refrained from calling him by his last name. She knew how uncomfortable it made him, “it appears you underestimate me.”

“Damn right!” James laughed. “Anything else we should know?”

“Nothing at all mister Potter, and I would appreciate it if you would mind your language.”

“Yes ma’am,” he murmured. 

“How did you know we were coming?” Remus asked. Minerva smiled. 

“In case you weren’t aware, Mister Lupin, I know everything.”

“No ma’am, he is a were!” Sirius laughed. Remus’ condition was no secret amongst the five. Minerva rolled her eyes with a smile. 

“You four better hurry, the Headmaster is on his way to his office. If you hurry you can catch him,” she informed them knowing they were eager to show off their work. They said their goodbyes and hurried from her office. Minerva watched them go with a smile. 

Now it was 1994 and there were rumors amongst her lions that a certain few planned to follow in the Marauders footsteps. Hagrid informed her that Ronald Weasly, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter were planning on dressing up as the professors. Acting as a messenger, Hagrid fed her information on who was going as who. It was no surprise Harry was going as herself but what did surprise her was Hermione going as Pomona, Neville choosing Snape as his target and Ron opting to go as Filius. Smirking to herself she pulled out the old Queen shirt she decided to keep. A small tear made its way down her face as she realized how old she was getting, how much time had passed from then to now.  
This time she informed the other heads of house about the costumes. They each agreed to dress as the student that chose them and “have a meeting” at the time Hagrid informed her they would come knocking. Even Poppy had to admit it was a genius plan and helped rig up a hidden camera to take pictures for James and Lily. 

Halloween came just like it did last time. She played the same cards, as if this was a normal day. She stifled a laugh as Sybil complained of bats in her classroom once again. Her and Poppy talked at the head table and turned when one of Minerva's famous pumpkins spooked an unsuspecting Draco Malfoy. 

“Can’t say he didn’t deserve that,” Poppy murmured just loud enough for Minerva to hear. 

“That's why I put it there,” Minerva whispered back, giggling at Poppy's barely hidden shock. 

After breakfast the professors went their separate ways to avoid suspicion and agreed to meet in Minerva's office. Like last time she had her costume in the closet. Sirius and Harry had similar styles, graphic tees with jeans and some sort of jacket over top. Minerva had to admit the baggy jeans were quite comfortable unlike the skinny ones she wore last time. She tucked the Queen shirt into her pants and threw a flannel over top. She slipped on some sneakers she had lying around and fixed her hair into a messy ponytail. The final touch was transforming her square frames into circles like the ones he wore. Satisfied, she waited for the other teachers to show up.   
The others did an amazing job with their outfits. Pomona had copied Hermione's hair and even dug up some old flare out jeans. Severus looked somewhat happy for once in his knit sweater. She supposed it had to do with humiliating Harry. Filius outdid himself. He managed to tell Fred and George about their plan and they offered up their old custom jumpers to the small teacher. He charmed his hair red to match and even brought a small rat with him. Minerva asked the elves for some tea and the four heads of house waited. 

Like last time, they showed up at twelve thirty expecting to surprise the teachers, and once again the teachers got them back. Minerva was certain this was the first time Severus had ever laughed. Harry and his friends out did themselves. Hermione had replicated Pomonas outerwear down to the rip in the elbow and even thought to bring one of Neville's plants with her to complete the look. Neville himself had lost his nerve seeing Snape dressed like him, but he did a good job on the all black robes. Ron had copied Filius gold robes from Christmas last and probably had Hermione dye his hair black. He even thought to part it down the middle like the short professor did!   
And then there was Harry. Minerva was certain he owled Sirius asking for the green robes he wore in 1976. Harry's hair wasn’t long enough to put into a bun, but he made do, slicking it back and gathering what he could into a tiny ponytail. He looked so much like his father.   
The room fell silent as the students took in their professors choice of outfit. 

“Checkmate,” Minerva stated, leaning against her desk. Slowly the room broke into laughter just like last time. Neville looked about ready to cry of humiliation, which Minerva felt bad for, and so she offered him a biscuit. “Surprised Mister Potter?” she asked after their laughter died down and Neville had calmed down a bit.

“Honestly, not as much as I should be,” he responded with a shrug. Minerva laughed and extended the biscuit tin to the other three. 

“How did you know?” Ron asked through a mouthful of cookies. 

“Mister Weasley, you should know nothing gets past me,” she smirked. 

“Professor I didn’t know you were one for pranks! Is there anything else we need to know?” Hermione asked. Minerva smiled, the same as she did all those years ago.

“Nothing at all, Miss Granger. Nothing at all.”


End file.
